My Journey Towards Journalism
Me, Liam O’Callaghan
Becoming a journalist was not always my dream job.
At 12 years old it was an engineer but that quickly changed when I discovered it required an aptitude for math. At 14 I thought a career in law would suit me but my mind changed again when it became apparent that being a lawyer is nothing like TV, it was at the age of 16 when I finally settled on journalism.
The decision to become a journalist seemed like a logical one at that time and one that was born out of my biggest passion, Australian rules football.
Australian rules football was probably destined to be one of my greatest passions after I was outfitted in a Collingwood jumper within months of leaving the womb courtesy of my father.
My love for the game quickly grew once I began to play in my backyard and in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. However at around the age of 16, after playing and closely following football for most of my life, the realization that I was not good enough to play was disappointing.
However it resulted in, what at the time seemed the logical decision, which was to get as close to the AFL and my passion as possible and to achieve that I would become a journalist.
From that point I have worked towards becoming a journalist, the first step was to become qualified. I am currently halfway through a journalism degree at the La Trobe University in Melbourne; I have also gained experience in the field by writing for a local football league and a football website.
However in on my journey towards becoming a journalist i have discovered fields other than sport that have attracted my attention. Specifically the position of a foreign correspondent, Washington Post journalist Phil Graham popularized the saying that journalism is the “first rough draft of history”. The possibility that what I write about an event occurring around the world could be that rough draft excites me.
It is also what brings me to my current position and as an exchange student at the University of Oregon; I hope it brings me valuable experience that I could apply to either of these journalistic fields.